Use seatbelts

Use seatbelts

From Media Indonesia

On Sept. 17 every passenger sitting in the front seats of a motorized vehicle will be required to put on a seat-belt. The regulation does not require passengers on the rear seats to put on seat-belts. The reason may be that not all cars have rear seat-belts fitted. The problem now is that given the economic crisis, buying seat-belts, which are quite expensive, is a fairly heavy financial burden to place upon the average car owner.

Nevertheless, existing traffic regulations do not go far enough with regards to measures designed to ensure passenger safety and the rights of road users, which are frequently violated by other drivers.

For example, in Jakarta there is no fixed penalties for the following dangerous driving practices: deliberately driving up to hard shoulder of a toll road, not staying in stipulated lanes, cutting across a line of vehicles from the right or the left on a two-way road, violating road markings, using headlights without considering the safety and comfort of other road users, and cutting across the path of other traffic and weaving in and out of lanes.

These matters need to be taken in hand because they place others in danger and violate existing traffic regulations, yet they are common practice and have been for quite some time.

It is good to require those riding on motorcycles to wear safety helmets and to obligate front seat passengers in an automobile to put on seat-belts because it will instill a sense of responsibility in the riders and drivers and perhaps make them think about the safety of other road users. However, at the same time there must also be regulations passed which prevent the rights of road users being taken from them by other thoughtless and selfish drivers.

The identity of a nation can, among other things, be reflected in the condition of its traffic. National discipline campaigns always stress that we must be disciplined in the interest of our own safety. However, a campaign on road discipline must also emphasize the importance of the safety and interests of other people because the absence of discipline on the road simply means encroaching upon other people's rights.

GANDHI MOEHAMMAD

Jakarta